Developer to build apartments along Sheboygan River
Nearly 300 apartment units could be built
SHEBOYGAN — In a neighborhood along the Sheboygan River once dominated by industry, Commerce Street will be evolving into housing.
Vinton Construction of Manitowoc will soon begin work on a nearly $4 million reconstruction project of North Commerce Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue. Officials with the Department of Public Works confirmed earlier this month that the bricks will be saved and preserved for future projects.
In recent years, the City of Sheboygan purchased eight properties on Commerce Street to make way for redevelopment of the River Bend Neighborhood. Demolition began in November 2022 and was completed in 2023.
Riverview District planned
Tyler Hawley, a developer from Milwaukee, is planning to construct a 283-unit apartment building called Riverview District. The building would be built on five acres of land formerly owned by Mayline. The Common Council approved a Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) development agreement for the project which is valued at $54 million. Before the apartments can be constructed, workers will need to remove contaminants from the property. The cleanup is being funded by a $500,000 grant.
Hawley previously owned the U.S. Bank Tower in Downtown Sheboygan for three years until he sold the building in 2024 to Jim R. Bertram. The downtown skyscraper is now called Lakeview Tower.1 Hawley purchased and redeveloped the former brewery at North Main Street and East Washington Street in West Bend. The District has 177 luxury apartment units along the Milwaukee River.2
Shoreline 400 Trail and Riverwalk
Due to the redevelopment, the Shoreline 400 Trail will be relocated and a riverwalk is planned. On the east bank of the Sheboygan River, there is a riverwalk that extends from North 14th Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.
In 1999, the City of Sheboygan purchased the Pirate Cove tavern at 931 Pennsylvania Avenue for $91,499. At the time, the city had plans to extend the riverwalk from the North 8th Street bridge to the Pennsylvania Avenue in 2005. But 25 years later, the riverwalk was never extended. The Pirate Cove land has remained vacant ever since, most recently being occupied by a homeless encampment.
The city has no current plans to extend the riverwalk as originally intended in 1999.
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